Santa Ana winds

Every Autumn in southern California we have a very “windy” event, otherwise known as the Santa Ana winds. In many parts of the world communities have their own terrible, driving winds which are unique to their particular area and we are no exception and upon their arrival the damage and havoc that can ensue by winds which sometimes have gusts up to 70 miles per hour!

These winds develop out of the higher deserts located northeast of the Los Angeles basin and funnel though the canyon passes with a verocity that can be deadly and quite often cause brush fires. Last fall we were quite fortunate, in that the Santa Ana season was quite mild and we didn’t experience the insanity of constant blowing winds and it was a relief to me, since I hate them….

On Tuesday we started to develop a mild Santa Ana and by Wednesday they were ferocious. Downed trees everywhere, tons of debris and everyone is on edge, as it makes you quite uneasy with the worry of brush fires.

Whew! They ended last night, there were no fires that I know of and other than experiencing a lot of sneezing due to allergies, there’s a mess in my garden. I JUST swept it up and cleaned it out the other day and now everything is smothered in fallen leaves and small branches. Even my little Certified Wildlife Habitat sign from The National Wildlife Federation got blown over.

But I’m relieved that there was no damage this time around and the worst I have to deal with is cleaning up all the leaves and small branches that came off my neighbors Ash tree and my three Liquid Amber’s.

However, this can change quickly and we are only just beginning the season for, what some people call, “Devil Winds” and I’ve got my fingers crossed that this year, will be one like last fall. Very, little wind and very little worry.